Yn gyntaf, hoffwn i hefyd ddiolch i’r Ysgrifennydd cyllid am ei ddatganiad heddiw, ac am yr alwad ffôn a gefais i gynnau hefyd ganddo fe, ond yn fwyaf oll, wrth gwrs, am y broses o gyd-drafod gyda fe dros gyfnod o fisoedd dros yr haf. Wrth gwrs, mae’r cytundeb rhwng Plaid Cymru a’r Llywodraeth yn ffrwyth y trafodaethau aeddfed hynny roeddem ni yn gallu eu rhoi yn sylfaen i’r datganiad y mae e newydd ei roi. Wrth gwrs, roedd yna gyfaddawdu—mae’n rhan annatod o unrhyw drafodaeth rhwng dwy blaid—ond a gaf i dalu teyrnged iddo fe am y ffordd adeiladol, creadigol, call ac ystyrlon a oedd yn nodweddu ei ddynesiad ef at y trafodaethau hyn? Mae’n gytundeb rŷm ni’n falch iawn gyda fe ym Mhlaid Cymru—y ddêl fwyaf erioed rhwng Llywodraeth Cymru ac unrhyw wrthblaid: £119 miliwn ar gyfer addewidion maniffesto Plaid Cymru, y blaenoriaethau sy’n adlewyrchu uchelgais Plaid Cymru yn nhermau sgôp a sylwedd, ond yn bwysicach fyth, rhai a fydd yn arwain at welliannau go iawn i fywydau pobl ym mhob rhan o Gymru; £30 miliwn ar gyfer addysg bellach ac addysg uwch, ac rwy’n falch o weld Paul Davies yn croesawu hynny a dweud y gwir; £50 miliwn ar gyfer y sector twristiaeth y clywsom ni sôn amdani gynnau gan y Prif Weinidog; £5 miliwn ychwanegol ar gyfer yr iaith Gymraeg, ac yn y blaen. Mae’r rhestr yn rhy hirfaith i fi fynd drwyddi yn llawn, ond yn sicr, mae’n cynrychioli dêl arbennig o dda i bobl Cymru.

The agreement delivers on many of our key commitments as a party, set out in the manifesto upon which all Members elected as Plaid Cymru Members stood for in this Assembly election. It’s the mandate that we have been given by hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens. I may be paraphrasing someone who has been a political mentor of mine by saying that it is always important that Plaid Cymru makes full use of its position to secure tangible improvements to the lives of the people in Wales. That is what democratic politics, ultimately, is all about; not grandstanding and carping on the sidelines, but delivering real improvement for the people of Wales. Often, in politics—[Interruption.] Often in politics, we can do more when we work across party boundaries, when we look for that common ground and we welcome that opportunity to deliver, together, the kind of changes that the people of Wales themselves want to see.

There will of course be aspects of the broader budget that we will disagree with. We will be seeking to discuss and amend the draft, and the budget process, as we go through scrutiny at committee level and on the floor of the Assembly, affords us all that opportunity to improve upon the draft budget. Our party, along with other stakeholders in wider society in Wales, will be seeking to be part of that wider engagement as well.

I have a few questions for the Cabinet Secretary, briefly. He has already referred to the autumn statement. The finance spokesperson of the Conservative Party referred to the ‘chokehold’ that we’re facing. Well, if we are talking about public finances, the real chokehold is being put there by a Conservative Government in Westminster that has actually left us with hard Brexit and austerity; it may be austerity lite, but I’m not convinced of that. That’s the chokehold. That’s the difficult context that we are looking at. But, could the Cabinet Secretary say a little bit more about the potential differential effects of the autumn statement in terms of the revenue or capital budgets, and perhaps give us some greater detail on how the changes that may need to be put in place as a result of the autumn statement will affect our revision process here?

I’m sure that the Cabinet Secretary will agree that one of the positive and unique features of this budget agreement, because it actually is embedded as part of a wider process with the finance liaison committee and the wider compact, is that it also contains a forward work programme beyond the budget agreement. One of the areas that we are keen to explore together is this vital area of improving effectiveness, which was referred to, and efficiencies within the public sector, broadly, which are absolutely vital, of course, if we are to deal with some of the fiscal challenges and the other pressures on public services that we will face. Finally, we will have a statement on the national infrastructure commission, so I won’t intrude too much on that subject. We have seen a significant reduction in capital expenditure compared to the beginning of this decade. The finance Secretary did refer to some of the innovative sources of finance that he is exploring in order to fill this gap, so that we can actually continue to increase and accelerate the rate of increase in infrastructure investment. Could he say a little bit more about what work is being done to take that forward?